Why get AWD?

Ran blizzaks for 20 years. Earlier versions were better, but wore VERY fast. Cornering very squishy. Tried pirellies for a bit, so-so. Now on X-ices. Excellent on cold, salty concrete. Very good on ice and snow. Wearing very well.

If you live where the pavement is 40f and lower, you need cold-weather tires, if you care about being able to stop in an emergency. AWD won't do a dayum thing to help you brake or corner (when not under power). It WILL make you overconfident, running higher speeds, and the impact forces go up with the square of the speed.
 
Monterra said:
Nokians are very good tires..and the aw variant should suit most winter demands w/awd just fine. Had old nrw (prior to wr line) on my mr2 and i swear ground clearance was my only ever issue..and when i say issue like 10"+ of unplowed so yeah phenomenal tire that still handles pretty nicely, just not cheap.. Ran wrg2 on my wife's civic years ago and was less impressed but it was more the civic itself than the tires. I fn hate fwd..have i ever mentioned:)
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Picked up a case of Lawson's Super Session #8. I think it's better than #2.

Cheers
 
Omaha metro is around 900k I think. Around here not a lot of people use winters so the shops just don't stock that brand. You can definitely get it though but you'll pay more. I think I'll get a better deal on the X-ice 3. Actually since I need wheels too I'll probably just go with a tire/wheel package from Tire Rack and they unfortunately don't carry Nokian either. I've heard great things about them though.
 
banjos-n-beer said:
Picked up a case of Lawson's Super Session #8. I think it's better than #2.

Cheers
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So wanted to bring these down md but 'settled' for the deuce;) Gold standard for sessions now in my book.. ski the bush in September? 33 tonight..29 @whiteface..fire up those guns...
 
banjos-n-beer said:
I would be curious to hear your comments if/when you eventually get a set. I'm most likely going to try out some Nokia's for my next snow tires.
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I've had experience on both Nokians WRG3 all weather tires and Hakkapelita R2 winter tires...the Hakkas are one of the best winter tires in the market and I'd always go back to that if I need dedicated winter sets but if you don't like the hassle and cost of swapping out tires during fall and spring then the all weathers will do fine as well. The WRG3s are way better than all seasons or 3-season tires but still can't beat the Hakkas during winter. While the WRG3s are a tad noisier than all season tires they're not over bearing and the treadwear is actually not bad. Performance during summers are also great but aside from the winter season advantage it has over the all season tires it also performs better against hydroplaning...I've always had confidence in driving during heavy rains/puddles as the sipes and grooves of the tread design were meant also for that (directional tires). I definitely trust the Nokian brand...
 
tekbis said:
I've had experience on both Nokians WRG3 all weather tires and Hakkapelita R2 winter tires...the Hakkas are one of the best winter tires in the market and I'd always go back to that if I need dedicated winter sets but if you don't like the hassle and cost of swapping out tires during fall and spring then the all weathers will do fine as well. The WRG3s are way better than all seasons or 3-season tires but still can't beat the Hakkas during winter. While the WRG3s are a tad noisier than all season tires they're not over bearing and the treadwear is actually not bad. Performance during summers are also great but aside from the winter season advantage it has over the all season tires it also performs better against hydroplaning...I've always had confidence in driving during heavy rains/puddles as the sipes and grooves of the tread design were meant also for that (directional tires). I definitely trust the Nokian brand...
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Kinda seals the deal for me. As an aside, they claim low-rolling resistance. What did your mpg measurement indicate?
 
ColoradoDriver said:
Sorta my attitude with tires in Denver. Dedicated winter set makes no sense. Maybe if I had a POS car and no AWD.
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Eh, AWD or 4WD won't do much if your tires aren't any good. My GF's Forester got stuck once last winter in the mountains whereas my FWD CX5 with chains made it around the ski village (not plowed) just fine. Saw plenty of SUVs getting stuck.

For Denver, I just got myself a good pair of all-seasons and keep chains in my spare tire area for when/if it's ever needed. The only time I got stuck was some freezing rain in Feb where the roads turned into black ice. Ended up having to to go a long way home to avoid a hill I couldn't get up, but in that case, I'm not sure how much AWD would have helped anyways as I was literally sliding backwards while trying to go up it.
 
caverunner17 said:
Eh, AWD or 4WD won't do much if your tires aren't any good. My GF's Forester got stuck once last winter in the mountains whereas my FWD CX5 with chains made it around the ski village (not plowed) just fine. Saw plenty of SUVs getting stuck.

For Denver, I just got myself a good pair of all-seasons and keep chains in my spare tire area for when/if it's ever needed. The only time I got stuck was some freezing rain in Feb where the roads turned into black ice. Ended up having to to go a long way home to avoid a hill I couldn't get up, but in that case, I'm not sure how much AWD would have helped anyways as I was literally sliding backwards while trying to go up it.
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All season tires can only did well in one category, there is no such thing as a tire that doesnt well in snow and dry pavement at the same time.

If you have an intense winter season, then dedicated winter wheels are the way to go.

I tried that the previous winter and will never look back again.
 
caverunner17 said:
Eh, AWD or 4WD won't do much if your tires aren't any good. My GF's Forester got stuck once last winter in the mountains whereas my FWD CX5 with chains made it around the ski village (not plowed) just fine. Saw plenty of SUVs getting stuck.

For Denver, I just got myself a good pair of all-seasons and keep chains in my spare tire area for when/if it's ever needed. The only time I got stuck was some freezing rain in Feb where the roads turned into black ice. Ended up having to to go a long way home to avoid a hill I couldn't get up, but in that case, I'm not sure how much AWD would have helped anyways as I was literally sliding backwards while trying to go up it.
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My CX-5 did fine when I lived in the mountains in the snow without winter tires. I don't really do any worse than that.

GJ-Molestor said:
All season tires can only did well in one category, there is no such thing as a tire that doesn’t well in snow and dry pavement at the same time.

If you have an intense winter season, then dedicated winter wheels are the way to go.

I tried that the previous winter and will never look back again.
Click to expand...

Not really an intense winter here...
 
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I read somewhere I think in this thread that someone is getting a sort of "delay" in shifting when trying to accelerate on a hill. It happened to me width drove to Baguio (mountain city). I think it's the algorithm of the computer box. When I tried to shift manually, there was no delay and my diesel engine passed with flying colors!
 
Nelson de Leon said:
I read somewhere I think in this thread that someone is getting a sort of "delay" in shifting when trying to accelerate on a hill. It happened to me width drove to Baguio (mountain city). I think it's the algorithm of the computer box. When I tried to shift manually, there was no delay and my diesel engine passed with flying colors!
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I always put it in 1st manual when going up a very steep and slow hill with poor footing. It keeps it from upshifting if you "go a bit too fast" and then bogging and then downshifting and losing traction.
 
Unobtanium said:
I always put it in 1st manual when going up a very steep and slow hill with poor footing. It keeps it from upshifting if you "go a bit too fast" and then bogging and then downshifting and losing traction.
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Sorry I couldn't record the db reading for my diesel as Promised. Family is either noisy or playing the music loud on trip. [emoji16]




And I was also too busy toying around with the manual mode gauging the proper shift points and enjoying the mid end torque.



[emoji13]
 
In our area we get only couple of snow days in winter and none of my existing Mazdas are AWD and we have survived without an AWD for all these years. Once my MPV was unable to climb a steep slope on an uncleaned road, when it was snowing. It is just fine, after the road is cleaned after a snow. But, if I get a CX 9 or CX 5, I will buy an AWD for two reasons. One FWD gets only 1 or 2 mpg better. Second, it might only be 1500$ extra for an AWD.
 
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karthik1516 said:
In our area we get only couple of snow days in winter and none of my existing Mazdas are AWD and we have survived without an AWD for all these years. Once my MPV was unable to climb a steep slope on an uncleaned road, when it was snowing. It is just fine, after the road is cleaned after a snow. But, if I get a CX 9 or CX 5, I will buy an AWD for two reasons. One FWD gets only 1 or 2 mpg better. Second, it might only be 1500$ extra for an AWD.
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If my vehicle fails to climb my drive-way, it costs me $350-500 for each occurrence where I miss work. This is meaningful to me.
 
karthik1516 said:
In our area we get only couple of snow days in winter and none of my existing Mazdas are AWD and we have survived without an AWD for all these years. Once my MPV was unable to climb a steep slope on an uncleaned road, when it was snowing. It is just fine, after the road is cleaned after a snow. But, if I get a CX 9 or CX 5, I will buy an AWD for two reasons. One FWD gets only 1 or 2 mpg better. Second, it might only be 1500$ extra for an AWD.
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I would spend $1000 on some good winter tires and pocket and $500 instead.
 
Unobtanium said:
If my vehicle fails to climb my drive-way, it costs me $350-500 for each occurrence where I miss work. This is meaningful to me.
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Paying extra for an AWD drivetrain and pairing that with some useless all season tires and relying on this combination to get you through the snowy season is just not safe. Not saying youre doing this, although it seems like it. Many do this.
 
I just got my winter set. Michelin Xice 3 225 60 18 and a set of 18x7.5 wheels with sensors. Combined with iActive AWD should do well in winter.
 
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